I was amazed to find Ohio listed as one of the top states for autism services because we have found that this state looks great on paper but does not turn out great in real life.

The Ohio Autism Waiver looks real good, but don't expect to get it. There is a very long waiting list, which must be renewed every year in the county where you're living. Plus, the list is based not only on how long you have been waiting but also the severity of the disability. One parent in our area was very hopeful when her child was number 23 on the list last year, but then she got a dose of reality to find that her child was number 26 this year.

The Ohio Autism Scholarship Program is something that doesn't work because the school district you live in still has to do the IEP. They don't like it when the money from their district goes to some scholarship program rather than to their school district, so there isn't a lot of cooperation. The other side of this is that there are very few schools which participate in the program, so there are not too many options for parents to use this scholarship.

We are thrilled that the Autism Society of Ohio has been able to get the state to offer specialty license plates in Ohio, but that doesn't offer us any services. We have had Autism Awareness Ribbons on our cars for many years now. I'm not putting down the Autism Society of Ohio, but after living in North Carolina and Florida I can tell you that those state autism societies gave far more support groups and advice for when dealing with unfamiliar bureaucracies.

The Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism is located in the northeastern section of the state and Ohio is a big state. This is not a state-wide program, especially for those who live in the southwestern part of the state. There is a center for autism in the southwestern part of the state, but we know from personal experience that there is a 3 month waiting list for appointments and they have stated that they are unwilling to go more than 2 counties away to provide services.

The booklet that you refer to as the comprehensive overview is a very well done booklet and before we moved to Ohio we found that on the Internet and thought that this would mean good things for us here. But it is only on paper. The booklet itself has a disclaimer ("These guidelines are not a standard of education for individuals with ASD/PDD in Ohio.") and we have found that both the school system and the MRDD system ignore most of the good things in that booklet.

Real life in Ohio is quite different from what we see on paper. I certainly hope that nobody looks at your list and decides to move to Ohio based on your number four rating.